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Ll. WITNESSES. L INV NToR.

` UNITED STATES PATENT N OFFICE.

` isAAC M. RHODES, OE HANCOCK, MICHIGAN.

IMPROVEMENT INY FRACTURE APPARATUS. "on lNvAuo-BEDSTEADS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 1216,28] dated January.(iJ` 1874; application filed December 19, 1873.

To all whom it may concern: i

Beit known that I, IsAAC M. RHODES, of Hancock, in the county ofHoughton and State of Michigan, have invented a new and valuableImprovement in Fracture Apparatus and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the constructionand operation of the same, reference being had to .the annexed drawingsmaking a part of this specification, and to the letters and figures ofreference marked thereon.

Figure l of the drawings is a representation of a longitudinal sectionof my apparatus. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is an endview. Fig. 4 is a bottom view. Fig. 5 is a side view. Figs. 6, 7, 8, 9,l0, and l1 are detail views of the forms. Fig. l2 is a side view of myapparatus when adjusted to a fracture of the lower extremities.

This invention has relationV especially to surgical apparatus which areintended for. use in the treatment of fractures of the lower limbs anddiseases of the joints, and which are also useful as reclining couchesand chairs for invalds. The essential features of my invention andimprovements are, first, a fracture apparatus having joints for the hipsand knees, which are adjustable and capable of being set so as toexactly coincide with the axes of articulation of the hip and kneejoints of different persons for the purpose of allowing movements to begiven to the body of a patient, or to the lower limbs, withoutdisplacement or in i any manner interfering with the adopted treatment,as will be hereinafter explained; second, a bed or stretched support forthe body and lower limbs, which is held under constant and uniformtension during and after any adjustment of the back, the seat, or thelower leg sections, as will be hereinafter explained 5 third, certainnovel means for raising and lowering the sections at the knee-joints,and for elongating or shortening the thigh sections to adapt theapparatus to persons of different sizes, and also to the kind oftreatment which the circumstances of the case may require, as willbehereinafter explained.

The followingis a description of my im provein ents In the annexeddrawings, A represents the frame which supports the apparatus, whichframe is composed of side standards rigidly secured together by means ofcross-bars, and,

if desired, it may be mounted on caster-wheels for conveniently movingit about. This frame A supports the articulating sections, to wit, a

back-section, B, a seat-section, B1, and a lower leg-section, B2. Theback-section is connected to the frame A by two pivots a d, and thissection-can be inclined at any desired angle by means of an extensibleprop, (l, which is com-V posed of two rods sliding one within the otherand hinged at b b. A spring-latch, b', is applied to the lower rod ofthis prop, which will catch into any one of a number of holes made intothe upper or sliding rod, and firmly support the back-section B at anyangle required.

-The seat-section B1 is longitudinally extensible, and is composed offixed side pieces c c,

i adapted to receive and serve as guides for two endwise-adjustable sidepieces, c1 c1. The seat y proper is composed of narrow strips c2, c3,and c, which are tongued and grooved together and covered withthinsheet-metal plates d d', on which latter is the seat-extension D1 ofa back-stretcher, D. The seat-strips o2 are secured rigidly to atransverse bar, c, which is fastened tothe side pieces c c below thehipjoint pivots a a, and also to a transverse bar, e', forward of kthebar e. are all secured at their front ends to a transverse bar, f, whichis secured to rigid arms g The seat-strips c2 c4 depending from the sidepiecesc1 c1. It will i thus be seen that the seat-section islongitudinally adjustable, and that `the plates d d,.

1 which are secured, respectively, to the crossbars c and f and overlapone another, afford a practically unbroken support when the seat `isextended.

To extend or shorten the seat for thighs of different lengths, thefollowing simple device is employed: D2 is a ri ght-and-left-handscrewshaft, which has its end bearin gs in the arms g, and on which areapplied two nuts, 2 2, to which latter the forked ends of two levers, 33, are pivoted. The rear ends of these levers are pivoted to thecross-bar e', which is fixed to pieces c c, as above described. Byturning the screw D2 the nuts 2 2 can be made to approach or recede tomeach other. I shall employ a removable crank-key for turning the.

screw D2, and construct both ends of this screw to receive such key. Thelower-leg section B2 is composed of two side pieces, 7L h, connected bya foot-board, hl, and a sheet-metal plate, h2, which latter is properlycushioned. rIhis sec! tion B2 is connected to the ends of the sidepieces c1 c1 of the seat-section B1 by means of pivots i i; also, bymeans of slotted sectors E and a clamping device. rIhe slotted sectorsare piv-V oted to the side pieces 7L la, and receive, through theirslots arod,j, which passes loosely through the arms g g andanintermediatetube, j1,.and receive thumb-nutsj2 on their ends. Byloosening a nut, jz, on either end ofthe rod j, both sectors E will beloosened, and the lower legsection, B2, can be adjusted at any desiredan gle with respect to the seat-section, and again fixed by tighteningthe same nut. I shall employ brace-rods 5 5, which connect the tube j tothe seat-pieces c4, and thus assist in rmly sustaining the sections B1B2 in whatever position they may be adjusted. F designates aright-and-left-hand screw, extending horizontally across the front partof frame A, and having its end bearings in brackets 6 6. On this screwtwo nut-s, 4 4, are applied, to which the lower forked end of twolevers, F F', are pivoted, which levers cross each other, and have theirupper ends pivoted to eye-pieces secured to the lower sides of theseat-pieces 02 c2. By turning the screw F, the nuts 4 4 are made toapproach or recede from each other, and the seat-section can be thusadjusted and iixed at any desired inclination. The screw F can be turnedfrom either side of the apparatus by means of the crank-key abovereferred to.

It will be seen from the above description that either one of the threesections B B1 B2 can be adjusted and fixed at any desired inclination;that these three sections can be adjusted and iixed in the same plane;Yand that the seat or thigh sect-ion can be extended or shortened, toadapt it to persons having different lengths of thi gli-bones. p

I will now describe the adjustments at the hip and knee joints, and themanner of applying the stretcher. The pivots au should coincide withcach other, and also with the axis of articulation of the hip-j oint;and to this end, I arrange these pivots a a above that part D of thestretcher D on which rests the buttock, and make them adjustable bymeans of several holes, a a', which are'V made through the standards offrame A and through the rounded ends of the side-pieces c c; or thisadjustment maybe made by means of slots and suitable clamps, so that,whatever may be the size of the patient, the pivots a a can be set tocoincide with his hip-j oints. I thus avoid giving an improper movementto the thigh and hip, should it be necessary to adjust the back or theseat scctions about said pivots a a.. The pivots fi i,

- connecting the lower leg-section B2 to the seatsectiou B1, areelevated above that part of the stretcher on which the poplitealportions of the legs rest 5 and these pivots i i' are also adjustable bylmeans of several holes, (or slots,) t', so that they can be made tocoincide with the axes of articulation of the knee-joints.

The stretcher D D may be made of any suitable iexible material, theseatfportion of which is secured to the cross-bar e, and properly stuedto form a comfortable cushion. The back portion of this stretcher isstiffened laterally by means of narrow strips of wood, whalebone, metal,or other suitable material, Vwhich strips are sewed into the stretcher,so as to support the same on two longitudinal ledges, 7c 7c, which, inpractice, will be made wider than I have represented them in the annexeddrawings, Fig. 4. Another object of said stiifening-strips is to causethat portion of the stretcher which is at and near the hip-jointarticulations to accommodate itselfl to the convex shape of the forms JJ, where this stretcher is drawn around them when the back-section israised. This gives the proper concave shape to the stretcher beneath thebuttock of the patient. The upper portion of the stretcher is carriedbeneath and over a roller, l, and provided with a stiffeningrod, to theends of which rod straps m are secured. These straps are carried overand beneath short rollers n u, thence upward and over the rear convexsurfaces o two forms, J J, over the rear rounded ends of pieces c c, andare attached to these pieces, as shown in the drawings. The back portionof the stretcher is thus held under tension. The rear convex edges ofthe two forms J J are concentric, or nearly so, to the axes of thepivots a a, for the purpose of taking up the slack in the back portionof the stretcher and keeping the same under constant and uniformtension, whatever may be the angle of inclination given to theback-section B. The forms J J are secured inside of the section B1 bymeans of the nuts on the pivots a a and shoul- Yders on the forms,7which shoulders abut snugly against the rear ends of the pieces c c.

I shall employ forms of different radiuses corresponding to the numberof adjustments which are required at the hip-joint articula tions.

To keep the lower portion of the stretcher under constant and uniformtension, I employ a compensating contrivance, as follows: L L representtwo cords, which are secured to a rigid rod sewed into the seat end ofthe stretcher, and which are carried around pulleys o o, thence backbetween seat-pieces c2 c4 and around pulleys p p, and thence back againto the ends of pieces c2, to which the cords L are secured. The pulleyso o are attached to cords r r, which are passed around pulleys 1" rfixed to the foot-board h', and thence carried back, passed through eyess s, and attached to the ends of the thigh-pieces c1. The eyes s s areiixed into the lower edges of theside pieces h h, near the joints i i.When the lower legsection B2 is iiexed or extended the tension of thelower or seat portion of the stretcher is uniformly maintained by thetaking up or letting out of the cords r r between their iixed points onthe sections c1 c1 and the eyes sY s. The cords L L and the seat portionof the stretcher are also kept under proper tension during and afteradjusting the thigh-pieces c1 c1 by the taking up or letting out of thecords L L where they pass around the pulleys ,p o. N N representfoot-boards, which are pivoted to a slide, N', that can be fixed to theside pieces h h by means of setscrews. These foot-boards are alsoadjustable laterally. When it is necessary to adopt counter-extensionthe slides N' N' are left free to move, and, after adjusting theadhesive straps around a foot-board, the weight-cord will be securedcentrally to the said straps and carried over pulleys which will beadjustably attached to the board h' of the section B2. l? represents aback-rest, which is secured to the side pieces of the back-section B bymeans of transverse rods, and which is Xed with relation to thestretcher D. This rest P prevents any inconvenience to the patientduring the adjustment of the back section, which might be occasioned bythe sliding` motion of the stretcher. The opening Fig. 4, represents apassage for allowing a person, while on the chair, to convenientlydei'ecate.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The combination of the back-section B, and seat `cr thigh section B1,connected substantially as specified, with the supportingframe A, forthe purpose mentioned.

2. The forms J J and the straps m m, combined with the stretcher D D',and its backsection B, substantially as described.

3. The combination of cords and pulleys L o p r', arranged 'asdescribed, with the stretcher D, the section B1, and the seat-pieces 01c1 c2 o2, as and for the purpose set forth. j

4. The knee-joint, formed by the diagonal adjustable pivots i f, incombination with the `eXtensible pieces c1 c1 and lower leg-sections jhereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

isAAc M. nnonns.

Witnesses GEORGE E. UPHAM, PHIL. C. MASI.

